Foot accelerator



Jan. 20, 1925- L. DE LOACH FOOT ACCELERATOR Filed March 5, 1924 'LeJr 17? Loimh. 2!; t

alllllll I.

\llLllia mtommga Patented Jan. 20, 1925.

LESTER DE LOACH, OF HAYNESVILLE, LOUISIANA.

FOOT ACCELERATOR.

Application filed March 3, 1924-.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnsrnn Dn LOAOH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haynesville, in the parish of Claiborne and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foot Accelerators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a tull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to foot accelerators for internal combustion. engines, and more particularly for application for motor vehicles.

An object of the present invention is to provide a foot accelerator for use particularly with the Ford automobiles and wherein a direct pull connection is had between a foot pedal and the operating arm of the butterfly or throttle valve of the carburetor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pull rod and a connecting device for coupling the pull rod to the valve arm or lever and at the same time to couple the' ordinary pull rod of the hand throttle in its proper position so that it may function independently of the foot lever and so that it will not change the proportionate movement of the throttle valve relatively to the throw of the'hand lever beneath the steering wheel.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a coupling device for connecting a foot lever withthe throttle valve arm and for connecting the usual pull rod to the throttle valve arm, so that the end of the pull rod normally lies in its usual position in line with the opening in the outer end of the throttle valve, so that the ordinary pull rod will not bind against the cylinder walls as the hand lever is operated, and to permit the free operation of the foot leve' independently of the hand lever.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts through- Serial No. 696,640.

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the foot accelerator showing the same in normal position in full lines, and showing in dotted lines one position for opening the throttle valve.

Figure is a side elevation of the same and Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the improved coupling member for connecting the hand and foot lever pull rods to the carburetor valve.

Referring to the drawing 10 designates the body of a motor vehicle having an engine 11 mounted therein, and a carburetor 12 ar ranged at one side of the engine and opposite to the steering column 13, which is dis posed at the other side of the engine, and which extends up into the body 10. The carburetor 12 is provided with the usual valve operating arm 14-, which projects forwardly and outwardly relatively to the engine 11, and it is provided with an eye 15 upon its outer end, which normally receives the down-turned end of the pull rod 16 which passes through the block of the engine llto the opposite side thereof. and is connected to a rod 17 which carries the usual hand lever upon its upper end for turning the rod 17 and operating the pull rod 16.

The carburetor is opened by drawing the pull rod 16 to the left through the engine 11. According to-the present invention the fool lever 18 of the accelerator is mounted upon a rock shaft 19 fitted in bearings 20, which are adapted to be secured beneath the foot boards 21, of the vehicle, and which permit the rock shaft 19 to be normally urged in onedirection by a spring 22 secured to the depending arm 24 at one end and anchored at 23 to the dash boards The foot lever 18 is thus held at its upper end in a rearwardly advanced position and is adapted to be forced by the foot forwardly in the act of opening he throttle valve. The. rock shaft 19 carries a dependingarm 21 which is located in longitudinal alinement with the space between the carburetor l2 and the engine 11, and pivotally carries one end of a pull rod 25 which extends through said space and slightly beyond the carburetor 12.

A coupling or a connecting member 26 is employed, the same being in the form of a single sheet of metal, which is stamped to provide a flat body portion or base adapted to lie across the upper side of the valve arm 14. One end of this base or body part 26 is provided with a downwardly returned lug 27 arranged to engage about and beneath the arm 14:, and a clamping screw 28 is passed downwardly through the base 26 and the lug 27, and carries a nut 29 adapted to operate against the lower side of the lug 27 for binding it against the arm 1 1 and to thus rigidly connect the base 26 to the arm. The base 26 projects at right angles to the arm 14. inwardly. and forwardly therefrom and has a opening 30 in its outer end and is of su'iiicient length to position the opening 30, so that the eye piece 31 formed on the forward end of the pull rod 25 may be secured through the opening 80, so as to draw the plate or base 26 rearwardly and swing it and the arm 14 together in a direction to open the valve. In Figure 2 the full lines show the valve arm 14 and coupling member or base 26 in a normal position wherein the valve is closed while the dotted lines show the ex treme open position of the parts and wherein the pull rod 25 has drawn the plate 26 and the arm 14 backwardly to the full extent. The action of the foot lever 18 therefore is direct upon the arm 1 1 and at the same time the usual pull rod 16 is relieved of the pressure and is not operated.

In order to prevent the pull rod 16 from being operated or interfering with the ac tion of the foot lever 18, the base portion 26 is provided with an upwardly off set flange 32 at its outer edge and the flange 32 is carried outwardly beyond the plate 26 for a considerable distance, and is curved rear wardly to provide an arcuate wing 33 in which is formed a curved slot 3 1 the inner end of which has its source immediately over and in line with the eye piece 15 of the valve arm 1 1 when the plate 26 is correctly positioned upon the arm. The slot 34 is curved on an arc struck from a radius whose center is coaxial with tl at of the arm 14, so that as the arm 1 1 is moved back and forth be: tween the positions shown in Figure 2 the down-turned end of the usual pull rod 16 is permitted to remain :ll times in its position of rest and is not moved and is not swung forwardly or rearwardly (hiring such movement. sov that there can be no binding ofthe pull rod 16 in the engine block 11. The flai-ige 32 andthe wing 33 are otf set up wardly from the base 16 to accommodate the down-turned end of the pull rod 16 which must be held out of engagement with the eye piece 15, and be maintained directly above it.

In the operation of the foot accelerator the foot lever 18 is forced forwardly and the arm 24 is swung rearwardly with the rock shaft 19 to draw the pull rod 25 backwardly and thus swing the plate 26 and the arm 14; toward the engine in the ordinary manner of opening the throttle valve. During this time the usual pull rod 16 remains inert, and the down-turned end of the pull rod 16 merely rides in the curved slot 34 as the wing 38 is carried inwardly with the plate 26.

Of course if the hand lever which controls the turning rod 17 0f the steering column is set at a predetermined point the usual pull. rod 16 is thus drawn through the engine block 11, so as to hold the throttle arm 14 open to the desired. extent. The hand lever may thus regulate the normally retarded position of the throttle valve and the foot accelerator may be quickly and easily advanced into any forward position from such definitely fixed retarded position.

The arrangement of the wing 33 with its slot 3 directly above the eye piece 151 of: the throttle arm and also concentric with the axis of the lever 13 prevents any binding of the ordinary pull rod 16 in the engine block. and permits the parts to act freely and independently one of the other in the opening of the throttle. The foot lever 18 has a direct pull upon the throttle arm 14 and conscquently the action is a direct one wherein there is no loose play and wherein the ordi nary'hand controlled devices are not disturbed nor are additional strains imposed upon them.

The improved coupling member or plate may be stamped from a single piece of sheet metal and may be quickly and easily applied to the arm 14 of the carburetor without changing the position of the same or of disturbing the mounting of the carburetor. It i only necessary to remove the downturned end of the pull rod 1.6 from the eye piece 15. and to then apply the connecting member and press forward end of valve arm 14-. down to a small extent so as to cause curved slot 34 to take position of former eyc piece 15 and to then secure the down-turm'd end of the pull rod in the slot 34: immediately over the eye piece 15.

It obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above spccilically described iunl'iodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof. such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claim.

hat is claimed is An attachment. for carburetors including a connector comprising a base. a depcndimr lug carried .by the base and terminating in a plane below and substantially parallel to the base. said base and lug being aperturcd. tastening means mounted in said apertures whereby to secure the connector to the throttle arm of a carburetor with the base extending beyond said arm and transversely thereof, said base adjacent to said lug being upset said upset portion terminating in an overhanging flange substantially parallel to the base. and provided with an arcuate slot.

LESTER DE LOACH.

lltl 

